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by moralityism



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, My Chemical Romance References, Post-Episode: ACCEPTING ANXIETY Part 2/2: Can Anxiety Be Good?, They're all trying their best, even virgil, who would rather be anywhere else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 19:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moralityism/pseuds/moralityism
Summary: Roman balances his slow-fading grudge against Virgil with his need for baked goods. Everyone has fun, even Logan.





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**Author's Note:**

> First posted to [Tumblr](moralityism.tumblr.com) on 4/28/18. Warning for mentions of food!

Roman can be focused when he has to be. He swears he can. When it comes down to it, and Thomas needs ideas for his newest video, he can always put all of his attention towards creating new games and gimmicks. (Not that his ideas are always  _good_  when he’s under that sort of pressure, but at least he tries his best.)

He leans back in his chair, glaring at the notes and scraps of paper scattered across his desk. He wonders if he could set them on fire with his mind if he tries hard enough. That would be a bad idea, though. After all, a bad idea is no more than a good idea in need of development.

He exhales deeply. Maybe he just needs to take a break.

As if on cue, the smell of fresh-baked cookies comes wafting from the kitchen.  _Patton never fails to come through_ , he thinks. Roman abandons his work and heads downstairs.

Patton beams at him as he enters the kitchen, moving the cookies to a cooling tray. “Hiya, kiddo! Want to take a break?”

“Only if it involves one of those delicious-looking cookies,” Roman replies.

“Well, of course!” He finishes moving all the cookies over, and sets the pan aside for a moment. “Logan said he’d be joining us in a moment, so I just have to call Virgil down, and we can have some good quality family time!”

Roman rolls his eyes. “Good luck with that,” he teases, and Patton pouts.

“He’ll come eventually,” he insists, and brushes past Roman into the living room. He calls Virgil from the bottom of the stairs as Roman watches, using a series of increasingly cutesy nicknames, but there’s no response.

Patton deflates after the seventh or eighth one. “Does he not want cookies? And family time?”

“Probably just cookies,” Roman says. Patton gives up and returns to the tray, dejected. “Maybe I’ll just leave some in front of his door…”

Roman hesitates. He’s not certain about having Panic! At the Everywhere sitting at the table during family time, but he doesn’t like seeing Patton so upset. Plus, he wants to get to the cookies before they cool. “I…might have a way of getting his attention,” he says, and Patton whirls around with wide eyes.

“Really?” he squeals.

“It’s just a possibility,” Roman reminds him, holding his hands up in front of him.

“I want to see!” Patton says, and Roman realizes that he’s backed himself into a corner. There’s no way he’ll be eating cookies without Virgil now.  _Ah, the risks of getting Patton started._

Roman sighs. “Alright, follow me.” They take off for the Mind Palace, where his keyboard lies.

As he sits down on the bench with Patton leaning over him, Logan peeks in the doorway. “I thought we were having cookies,” he says. Patton beckons him in and he enters, confused.

“Roman’s going to get Virgil out of his bedroom for family snack time!” Patton chirps.

Logan crosses his arms. “I’d like to see him try,” he scoffs.

Roman shushes them. “Alright, I’m going to start now.” He clears his throat dramatically and fans his hands out over the keyboard. After a short pause, he raises one hand… and presses down a single key.

A G note resounds throughout the house.

“Ah,” says Logan.

Roman lets the note ring out fully, then continues playing.

_F#, B, E…_

Patton claps. “Ooh, I love this song,” he whispers, loud enough to be heard over the piano.

Logan crosses his arms. “There’s no way this will work,” he mutters. “He’s not so obsessed with his image that he’ll come just because you play  _Welcome to the Black Parade_.”

“Trust me,” Roman whispers back fiercely. The music doesn’t falter.

_B, E, A… D…_

“WHEN I WAS—” Roman and Patton burst out singing simultaneously, Roman still playing along on the keyboard. Patton elbows Logan gently, then with more force, until he’s at least humming along.

They sing through the rest of the intro (some more enthusiastically than others), then Roman goes back to playing the melody.

“See,” Logan huffs, turning to walk out, “all of this nonsense, and not a single sign of…”

Virgil is standing in the doorway, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. They’re all struck simultaneously by the image of a house cat, watching over its family from a distance but refusing to join them.

He makes eye contact with Logan and startles, turning to run. Patton is faster, however, and with an excited squeal he pounces on the hapless Side and drags him into the room.

Roman pauses for a moment. “Fantastic of you to join us, Virgil,” he says, and shoots Logan a smug smile. Logan rolls his eyes.

Roman laughs and launches immediately into the next set of lyrics. Patton sings along with one arm locked around Virgil, whose face is wavering between annoyance and terror. The pair of them are swaying slightly to the tune — or, rather, Patton is swaying. Virgil is simply being rocked by his weight.

But, as the song goes on, Virgil’s face relaxes, and he quietly, begrudgingly starts singing in tune.

Logan swears up and down that he’s not an emotional Side, but a small smile crosses his face watching Virgil have fun with the others. The mood is infectious, and by the final verse of the song he too finds himself singing with the others to the best of his ability.

The piano playing comes to its soft conclusion, and silence descends like a blanket over the room.

Virgil starts to tug his arm away from Patton’s grasp. “I’m gonna go back to my—“

“What shall I play next?” Roman interrupts, eyes sweeping over his small audience as he spins on the bench to face them.

“Disney!” Patton cheers immediately.

“Ah, perfect,” Roman says, rising from the bench in a sweeping motion. “I have a collection of Disney songbooks in my room!” He vanishes for a moment, then rises back up again with three or four booklets in his arms. He hands one of them to Patton. “Pick whatever you’d like.”

Patton nods intently and flips the book open to the middle. Roman and Logan watch as Virgil stands next to him for a moment, still on the verge of fleeing. Finally, his love for Disney wins out over his desire to flee, and he joins Patton in looking through it.

“It is a shame there are no songs in Black Cauldron,” Logan notes, impassive as ever.

Virgil looks up at him in shock, then hurriedly bows his head back down before any of the other Sides can see his face.

“Yeah,” he mutters, “I guess it is.”

Patton abruptly drops the book, looking at the other three with wide eyes. “I forgot about the cookies!”


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